The 1960s—Decade of Radical Change, or Back to 1912?

The NSW (Female Rates) Amendment Act of 1958 was designed to usher in equal pay – at least, for some women. It could not address pay rates set for federal employees and negotiated through federal tribunals. The 1960s saw debates in federal Parliament in the House of Representatives and the Senate, with the Labor opposition proposing equal pay for federal public servants and the Liberal-Country Party Coalition government opposing it. Mr EG Whitlam, opposition deputy leader at the time, stressed the justice of equal pay and its implementation elsewhere – in Canada and some US states. This argument replicated women’s stance: their links with overseas equal pay proponents meant they had information about developments elsewhere ready to hand, used whenever they had the chance. Women’s organisations passed on their sources and resources to politicians and trade unions in an effort to have Australia and Australian states emulate overseas advances. They approached governments, too, pressing on with the contention that Australia should not be behind in recognising women’s rights, and particularly women’s right to equal pay. Sometimes federal government ministers made promises to raise the matter in cabinet, but the promises proved empty, for if the matter were ever raised, cabinet did nothing about it. The decade was characterised by a back-and-forth between conservative governments and arbitration or wage-setting bodies, women being denied action by the one asserting the other was responsible. Equal pay was a matter for arbitration and wage-setting, said government and government could not usurp the power of the bodies with that responsibility. Meanwhile, arbitration and wage-setting bodies said by government to be responsible for bringing equal pay to reality said it was a matter for government. Nonetheless, the 1960s ended with a victory for women: equal pay for equal work was endorsed by the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission. Replicating the Arbitration Court ‘equal pay for equal work’ decision of 1912 (overlooked in the 1969 decision itself, in media publicity and by commentators), the 1969 decision was heralded as a win – at first. Then, as employers reorganised jobs into ‘male jobs’ and ‘female jobs’ meaning no ‘equal work’ so no ‘equal pay’, reality set in. Women looked to the 1970s to achieve their goal.